Ryan M. Floryan is led out of the Dutchess County Courthouse Wednesday in the City of Poughkeepsie. / Karl Rabe/Poughkeepsie Journal

Written by

Chris Valdez

Poughkeepsie Journal

ONLINE

TIMELINE

Below is the timeline of activity involving Ryan Floryan, leading up to the August 2012 fatal crash, according to state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and court records. June 15, 2010: Sentenced to three years in prison for second-degree attempted robbery in the Town of Poughkeepsie. March 9, 2012: Paroled from Franklin Correctional Facility. April 8: Allegedly failed to follow his curfew of 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. May 11: Allegedly failed to follow his curfew of 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. May 12: Completed an anger management program. May 16: Allegedly tested positive for marijuana. May 24: Allegedly failed to comply with a parole officer’s orders. May 30: Was charged with third-degree assault by Town of Poughkeepsie police. May 30 and thereafter: Allegedly failed to meet with his parole officer. May 31: Charged with second-degree harassment by city police. According to the city police complaint, Floryan punched a female acquaintance in the right side of the head, near the temple, three times during an argument in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Aug. 1: Allegedly ran a red light at the Eastbound Arterial and Worrall Avenue in the City of Poughkeepsie in his girlfriend’s car and slammed into a Kia Optima carrying Shawn and Patricia Wonderly and the couple’s two children, Abigail and Matthew. Shawn and Patricia Wonderly die in the crash.

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The families of Shawn and Patricia Wonderly still battle sleepless nights and dreams that remind them of their loss. But now that a Town of Poughkeepsie man has pleaded guilty in the fatal crash, the healing process can begin.

Ryan Floryan, 23, pleaded guilty to Wednesdau to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. He faces 6½ to 13 years in prison when he’s sentenced July 30. Meanwhile, the families of the victims are considering possible civil legal action.

Floryan admitted to driving at excessive speeds to avoid city police because he was wanted on a parole violations.

He conceded he ran a red light at the Eastbound Arterial and Worrall Avenue in the City of Poughkeepsie and collided with a Kia Optima carrying the Wonderlys and the couple’s two children, Abigail and Matthew.

“I was driving recklessly,” Floryan said in a low mumble when asked what happened Aug. 1.

Larry Wonderly, Shawn Wonderly’s father, and Richard DeSantola, Patricia Wonderly’s brother, said the plea allows for closure and helps the families focus on raising the children instead of worrying about the outcome of the case.

DeSantola said family members are coping differently, but the pain still resonates deeply.

“Sometimes I wake up at night and see a picture …” DeSantola said before he getting too choked up to continue.

“The worst part is the dreams,” Wonderly added.

After a few moments to gain his composure, DeSantola said, “But then there’s the joy of seeing the kids.”

The grieving family members smiled when they talked about how Abigail and Matthew are growing up to be so similar to their parents.

Matthew, 8, and Abigail, 9, have just started to open up about the crash, they said.

The children were trapped in the back seat of the family’s vehicle immediately after the crash that killed both parents.

The family stepped in to take care of the children, and they both live in a Town of Poughkeepsie apartment with their grandmother, Marie DeSantola, Richard DeSantola said.

“They weren’t left at an orphanage,” he said. “They’re with a family who loves them.”

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With the support of a loving family, and talks with grief counselors, the children have started to acknowledge the accident.

“The biggest breakthrough we had was when we started to talk about scars,” said Larry Wonderly, 62.

“Abigail would say ‘Grandpa, I told you before, I hit my head before the accident.’ Before, if anybody spoke to her about the accident, she would say, ‘Stop you’re going to make me sad.’ ”

He said Matthew would ask him about the scars left over from his knee surgeries. Matthew, who would playfully knock on his grandfather’s scars, would talk with his grandfather about a scar running down his leg that he got from the accident, Wonderly said.

“This is not something that’s over tomorrow,” he said. “It’s like the old adage — time heals (all wounds).”

DeSantola said the children still often refer to their parents in the present tense.

“Once in a while, they’ll say things like ‘Daddy likes to make us pancakes,’ ” he said.

Wonderly said the family will make its feelings known when Floryan is sentenced. He and DeSantola plan to speak at the hearing July 30, as long as their emotions don’t overwhelm them. Other family members and friends plan to submit letters to the court to express their feelings, they said.

“It’s important to all of us that the whole family is involved,” said DeSantola, 52.

Floryan could get additional time for a prior parole violation, Senior Assistant District Attorney Edward McLoughlin said.

“Our goal here is to make sure he pled to the highest counts and received the most substantial prison sentence that is commensurate with his behavior,” McLoughlin said.

Floryan will have to pay restitution to the families for medical bills, funeral arraignments and the value of the family’s vehicle and a maximum fine of $10,000.

“I’m just glad that all the families involved don’t have to suffer through the ordeal of the trial,” said Floryan’s attorney, Jim Hill of the Dutchess County Public Defender’s Office.

Wonderly and DeSantola said they are happy with the work of local officials but said they are disappointed with the statutory sentence.

They said family and friends will urge state politicians to extend the maximum sentence for people charged in similar crimes, an idea McLoughlin supports.

The families of Shawn and Patricia Wonderly have filed civil court document warning the City of Poughkeepsie of their possible intention to sue the municipality and that any documents or records related to the case shouldn’t be altered or destroyed.